Mango Dal Or Mavidikaya Pappu

"Dal" is one of the ‘must cook’ dish for your Valentine. It is the quintessential dish in any Indian household. There are umpteen varieties to make this dish. One can either make it plain, or add a range of vegetables to it. Varied vegetables combined with tur dal (split pigeon peas) add an ‘oomph’ to this ‘pricey” yet essential dal. Some of the common combinations made every day in my household are listed below along with the Telugu names for the respective dish: a) Tomatoes, Tamata pappu b) Palak, Palak pappu. I have posted the receipe for this dish on my blog: http://www.tangytales.com/recipe/palak-dal-spinach-with-lentil-recipe/ c) Yellow cucumber, Dosakaya pappu d) Methi leaves, Menthi pappu e) Green amaranth, Thotakura pappu f) Green Sorrel leaves, Chukkakoora pappu g) Kenaf leaves, Gongura pappu h) Raw mango, Mavadikai pappu Amongst these one of my favorite happens to be ‘the simple Mango dal’. Typical of a South Indian, all my family members love this ‘tangy’ dish. Except my Dad, starkly defying the fact that he is an unique South Indian whose culinary preferences vary for the rest especially with regards to tanginess. Come summer, my mother used to frequently make this ‘summery’ dal to be savored with hot rice! Throughout the hot summers, this was one ‘cooling’ dish we used to look forward to. We have grown up savoring this wonderful dal and feel very much nostalgic about this dish.